SourceAmerica Announces Call for Entries for Design Challenge

VIENNA, Va., Sept. 21, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- SourceAmerica, a national non-profit that creates job opportunities for people with significant disabilities, has opened registration for two national engineering competitions, the High School Design Challenge and College Design Challenge.  During the 2015-2016 school year, students will compete to create innovative technology that addresses workplace barriers faced by people with disabilities.

Each Design Challenge team includes students and person(s) with a disability experiencing a real-world workplace barrier. Each team develops, tests, and builds a process, device, system, or software to overcome the workplace barrier. This hands-on service learning opportunity combines engineering, communication, writing, math, presentation, and teamwork skills.

General submission requirements include registration paperwork due in November 2015, and a video and written paper due in January 2016. The finalist teams will move forward to present their projects in Washington, D.C. before the judging panel in April 2016.

Projects by recent finalists include:

• Machines to automate processes that required fine motor control and upper body strength – something not all people with disabilities have;
• Assistive personal devices with remarkably simple design that increase worker confidence, accuracy and productivity;
• Software to improve workflow and accuracy of processed orders;
• New processes that resulted in improved safety, ergonomics, productivity, and production time for employees with disabilities.

"The benefits to both Design Challenge participants and nonprofit agency partners are far-reaching," said SourceAmerica's CEO and President Steve Soroka. "Students gain an invaluable real-world experience by creating technology that helps improves the quality of work-life for a people with disabilities, and nonprofit agencies can use and benefit from this technology for years to come. Together, they are truly changing lives."

Ohio University has been participating in the Design Challenge since 2007. Team coach Gregory Kremer, Mechanical Engineering Department Robe Professor and Chair, said: "The Design Challenge is a popular option for our Senior Capstone Project. In our college town (Athens, OH), we have a Community Demonstration Day, where students present their Design Challenge projects, among others, to show how they're making a difference."

For more information on how to participate, submission requirements and key dates, please visit http://www.instituteforempowerment.org.  

About SourceAmerica

Established in 1974, SourceAmerica creates job opportunities for a skilled and dedicated workforce of people with significant disabilities. SourceAmerica is the vital link between the federal government and private sector organizations that procure the products and services provided by this exceptional workforce via a network of more than 1,000 community-based nonprofits. Headquartered in Vienna, Virginia, SourceAmerica provides its nonprofit agency network with business development, contract management, legislative and regulatory assistance, communications and public relations materials, information technology support, engineering and technical assistance, and extensive professional training needed for successful nonprofit management. SourceAmerica is an AbilityOne authorized enterprise.

SOURCE SourceAmerica